Cento Ventures
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Cento Ventures is the grizzled veteran of Southeast Asian VC - they've been grinding since 2011 when most funds were still scared of the region. Cento's successful exits include 2C2P (acquired by Ant Financial), Coda Payments (strategic investments by Apis Partners), FoodRunner (acquired by FoodPanda/DeliveryHero) and Kaidee (acquired by OLX Middle East)... delivering superior outcomes to our investors, including the biggest VC trade sale exit in Southeast Asia in 2022 to-date. What sets them apart is they actually understand the nuanced differences between Thai, Indonesian, and Filipino markets rather than treating SEA as one blob. Dmitry's operator background at Yahoo! and IDG gives him real domain expertise, while Boon Ping brings serious corporate finance chops from his SPH Ventures days managing $70M+. They're known for rolling up their sleeves post-investment - not the type to just write checks and disappear. The downside? They can be slow to move and very thesis-driven, so if you're outside their wheelhouse or need quick decisions, look elsewhere.
- —Best for: SEA-focused founders who want hands-on, experienced operators as investors
- —Watch out for: Can be slow on decisions and very particular about regional expansion thesis
- —Known for: Strong exit track record and deep regional market knowledge since 2011
At Cento Ventures, we invest in early-stage startups that have reached the initial product-market fit anywhere in Southeast Asia and could use the extra capital to scale their operations regionally or to enhance their business model, especially through deployment of digital financial services such as credit, settlements, or insurance.
Cento is a Series A investor, committing on average US$1M initially, and up to US$4M over the lifetime of each investment. Top sectors in Cento Ventures' portfolio are Retail (11 investments) and Enterprise Applications (11 investments) with focus on under-invested emerging digital markets, primarily Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Dmitry formerly served as an advisor to several investment groups and corporations pursuing technology and media opportunities across developing Asia, with Media Development Authority of Singapore, Singtel, IDG Ventures Vietnam, Livejournal.com, and Chinese Founders Fund among his clients. Prior to that, Dmitry spent several years in business development roles with Yahoo! Southeast Asia, negotiating a series of content, distribution, monetisation and technology deals for Yahoo! in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Dmitry also acted as a business strategist for the Regional Managing Director, working on vertical strategies for e-commerce, gaming, travel, finance, telecom and other sectors.
He has over 20 years of extensive experience in venture capital and M&A in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors. Prior to Cento, he was the CEO of Straits Capital Investment Pte Ltd ("Straits Capital"). In that role, he managed a corporate venture fund totalling over U$70 million that he invested with a global multi-stage mandate into technology companies. Before that, Boon Ping served as Senior Vice President of EDBi, the investment subsidiary of EDB (Economic Development Board of Singapore), the government agency leading innovation and economic initiatives for the Republic of Singapore.
Before Cento, Ali was CEO/COO for 4 years at ZALORA Thailand, a subsidiary of Asia's largest fashion e-commerce group. Operational background in e-commerce and digital transformation with hands-on management experience scaling tech platforms in Southeast Asia.
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